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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: RUSSIA MAYAN SCHOLAR
HEADLINE: As thousands visit Mayan ruins, memory of groundbreaking Ukrainian academic largely forgotten
TEASER: Modern understanding of the ancient Mayans is rooted in the work of a Ukrainian-born, largely forgotten academic from the Soviet era
PUBLISHED AT: 6/21/2024, 7:45 am
BYLINE: Olga Pavlova
CONTRIBUTOR: Ricardo Marquina
DATELINE: Moscow/St. Petersburg
VIDEOGRAPHER: Ricardo Marquina Montanana, Luis Ramirez, Agency
VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, Baragona
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original, Reuters
PLATFORMS:
TRT: 3:55
VID APPROVED BY: sb
TYPE: TVR
EDITOR NOTES: Marcus Harton narrates English version; for production Thursday))
((INTRO)) [[June 20th marked the start of the summer solstice, a moment that draws thousands of people from around the world to the ancient Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, Mexico, to see a phenomenon that appears each year - a sun shadow of a serpent descending from top of the site’s main period. What many visitors don’t know is that much of the modern understanding of the ancient Mayans is rooted in the work of a Ukrainian-born academic from the Soviet era. Marcus Harton narrates this report from Olga Pavlova in Moscow.]]
((VIDEO: Pyramid at Chichen Itza, tourists. VOA ORIGINAL))
((NARRATOR))
Chichen Itza is one of the most visited archeological sites in the world, with visitors getting explanations of an ancient Mayan culture that to this day remains much of a mystery. What is known is largely the result of the work of Yuri Knorozov, a Ukrainian-born Russian academic who is credited with deciphering the Mayan code.
((VIDEO: VOA SHOTS OF MOSCOW, PHOTO YOUNG KNOROZOV, KUNSTKAMERA INTERIOR, MAYA HIEROGLYPHS, PIX KNOROZOV IN MEXICO))
((NARRATOR))
Far from Mexico, Knorozov, a young student at the University of Moscow after the end of World War Two, came across the work of a German scientist named Paul Schellhas, who labelled the deciphering of Mayan hieroglyphs an unsolvable problem.
Knorozov, who died in 1999, took it on as a personal, lifelong challenge.
It was an especially difficult one. The Cold War was at its peak and the Soviet Stalinist regime prohibited him from traveling or interacting with Western scientists.
One of his students, Margarita Albedil, now a researcher at Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in St. Petersburg, says Knorozov was penalized for actions that were beyond his control during World War Two.
((Radio: She says he was invited to do research, but this door was slammed on him because during the war his family stayed in territory occupied by Germans, and at that Stalin’s time that meant an indelible stain on his record.))
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF DR. MARGARITA ALBEDIL IN THE LIBRARY OF KUNSTKAMERA, TURNING OVER PAGES OF THE BOOKS))
((Margarita Albedil, Former Knorozov Student - FEMALE IN RUSSIAN - VOA ORIGINAL))
“Someone was going to invite him to (do research) but this door was slammed on him because during the war his family stayed in territory occupied by Germans, and at that Stalin’s time that meant an indelible stain on his record.”
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF ST. PETERSBURG EXTERIORS, KUNSTKAMERA EXTERIORS/INTERIORS RE. MAYA, PIX DIEGO DE LANDA – FROM INTERNET))
((NARRATOR))
Knorozov figured out that each of the symbols in Mayan scripts stood for a syllable - 355 characters in all.
With no computer, he wrote everything by hand.
His work, though initially challenged by world academics at the time, has since been validated and accepted by leading researchers, including in the United States, who say Knorozov made possible the modern decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing.
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE THE KNOROZOV MESOAMERICAN CENTRE IN MOSCOW, STUDENTS, MUSEUM WITH ARTEFACTS COPIES, PROFESSOR GALINA ERSHOVA OFFICE))
((NARRATOR))
At Moscow’s Knorozov Center for Mesoamerican Studies today, the culture of North America’s pre-Columbian civilizations fascinates many.
One of the professors at the center, Galina Ershova, was also a student of Knorozov.
((Radio: she says they have worked considerably to make Knorozov’s achievements known because what he did was more important than what others did. The previous work was the work of an elementary school student compared to what Knorozov accomplished, which was a great discovery, she says.))
((Galina Ershova, Historian - FEMALE IN SPANISH - VOA ORIGINAL))
“We have worked considerably to make Knorozov’s achievements known because what he did was more important (than that of others). (The previous work) - that was the work of an elementary school student compared to what Knorozov accomplished, which was a great discovery.”
((VIDEO: MOBILE PHONE PHOTO OF PALENQUE, VOA FOOTAGE OF KNOROZOV MESOAMERICAN CENTRE))
((NARRATOR))
It wasn’t until the last years of his life in the 1990s, after the collapse of communism and Soviet rule, that Knorozov was able to visit the Mayan ruins at Palenque ((PRON: pah-LEHN’-keh)) in Mexico.
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF ST. PETERBURG EXTS, ANNA MASLOVA’S APARTMENT, HER BOOKS, ORDER OF AZTEK EAGLE, KNOROZOV WITH HIS CAT PIX))
((NARRATOR))
The Mexican government honored him with the highest decoration it gives to foreigners, the Order of the Aztec Eagle. The medal is today guarded affectionately by his granddaughter, Anna Maslova.
((She says Yuri Knorozov was (not) just a remarkable grandfather, he is the most significant, the most beloved person in her life. They thought alike. He paid all his attention to her when he was not busy with his science. To be short, she says, she wishes everyone could have such a grandfather.”
((Anna Maslova, Knorozov’s Granddaughter - FEMALE IN RUSSIAN - VOA ORIGINAL))
“Yuri Knorozov was (not) just a remarkable grandfather, he is the most significant, the most beloved person in my life! We thought alike. He paid all his attention to me when he was not busy with his science. To be short, I wish everyone could have such a grandfather! ((LAUGHS))”
((VIDEO: VOA FOOTAGE OF ST. PETERBURG EXTS, ANNA MASLOVA’S APARTMENT, HER BOOKS, ORDER OF AZTEK EAGLE, KNOROZOV WITH HIS CAT PIX))
((NARRATOR))
Knorozov is largely forgotten in Russia, but his work in deciphering an ancient mystery - all done from the confines of his desk and under the political repression of his time - outlives him.
((For Olga Pavlova in Moscow, Marcus Harton, VOA News))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateJune 21, 2024 07:57 EDT
BylineOlga Pavlova
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
